Electronic organs with plural stops, channels, and loudspeakers

ABSTRACT

In an electronic organ comprising a plurality of stops there are provided a plurality of separate transducing channel means amplifiers, each having a corresponding separate loudspeaker fed from the amplifier; each amplifier receives the signals for a set of notes that are spaced 12 +n half tones from one another where n is any positive whole integer including 0; preferably n is not greater than 43; when n 0 and the notes of each set are octavely related each amplifier may receive signals for a first set of notes of one stop and a second set of notes for another stop, the two sets being spaced half tones apart; alternatively each amplifier may receive a first set of notes at one stop together with at least one other set of notes from another stop, the notes of all the stops having the same basic frequency.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Andrew N. Shaw 403 Patricia Drive, Burlington, Ontario,

Canada [21] Appl. No. 808,506 [22] I-i1ed Mar. 19, 1969 s [45] Patented Jan. 5, 1971 [54] ELECTRONIC ORGANS WI'I'II PLURAL STOPS,

CHANNELS, AND LOUDSPEAKERS 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] [LS- 84/].01, 84/l.17, 84/122 [51] Int. Gl0h l/00, 61011 5/00 [50] Fieldol'Search 84/1.0l, 1.04,1.11.1.17,1.19.1.22(A,E,FD,N,S)

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,500,820 3/1950 Hanert 8411.19 84/ 1 .01

2,596,258 s/19s2 Leslie Primary ExaminerW. E. Ray Attorney-Church and Rogers ABSTRACT: In an electronic organ comprising a plurality of stops there are provided a plurality of separate transducing channel means amplifiers, each having a corresponding separate loudspeaker fed from the amplifier; each amplifier receives the signals for a set of notes that are spaced 12 +n half tones from one another where n is any positive whole integer including 0; preferably n is not greater than 43; when n =0 and the notes of each set are octavely related each amplifier may receive signals for a first set of notes of one stop and a second set of notes for another stop, the two sets being spaced half tones apart; alternatively each amplifier may receive a first set of notes at one stop together with at least one other set of notes from another stop, the notes of all the stops having the same basic frequency.

2O 13; 15 13 I a.

PATENTEDJAH SIB?! 3,553,333

INVENTOR.

ANDREW N. SHAW W MW IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO ELECTRONIC ORGANS 1. Field of the Invention This invention is concerned with improvements in or relating to electronic organs.

2. Review of the Prior Art It is at present considered that the tone of a windpipe organ is superior to that of an electronic organ, especially in full ensemble. The principal reason for this superiority is considered to be that the individual, spatially distributed, free-speaking wind pipes, each producing a note rich in harmonics, create a diffused tonal quality that is pleasant to the car, even at high volume levels. The greatest contrast in tonal quality will be experienced in the comparison of even a simple pipe organ with an inexpensive electronic organ, all of the sound generated in the electronic organ being fed through a single electronic power amplifier and loudspeaker.

Many attempts have been made in the past to improve the tonal quality of electronic organs in orderto approach that of the pipe organ, for example .by use of special rotating speakers. A more expensive suggestion has been to provide a separate channel of audio amplification for each stop or rank (stop" will be used hereinafter), but such an arrangement still does not produce an effect to match that of the comparable pipe organ, especially in full ensemble. It has also been suggested that a successful organ could be produced by providing a separate amplification channel and an associated loudspeaker for each note of each stop, but such an approach is too costly to be justifiable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a new electronic organ.

It is a specific object to provide a new electronic organ in which a separate amplification channel and associated loudspeaker is provided for the set of octavely related associated notes in each stop.

It is another specific object to provide a new electronic organ in which a separate amplification channel and associated loudspeaker is provided for each set of notes in each stop that are spaced l2+n half tones apart, where n is any positive whole integer.

lnaccordance with the present invention there is provided in an electronic organ comprising a plurality of stops, each stop comprising means for generating electric signals representing notes which have fundamentals that are half tones apart and extend over a plurality of octaves, a plurality of separate transducing channel means each having a corresponding respective separate loudspeaker connected thereto, and means feeding the electric signals for each set of associated notes of each stop together to a respective channel means and thence tothe respective loudspeaker for generation of the keyed note or notes as audible sounds, the notes of each set being spaced l2+n half tones from one another where n is any positive whole integer including zero in the range from to 43 inclusive. Preferably n is an integer in the range from O to 12 inclusive.

When n is 0 and the notes of each set are octavely related to one another the said feeding means may feed to each channel means electric'signals for a first set of notes of one stop and a second set of notes of another stop, the notes of the first set being spaced a half tone interval from the notes of the second set.

When n is an integer greater than 0 the said feeding means may feed to each channel means electric signals for a first set 1 of notes of one stop together with at least'one other set of notes, each other set being obtained from a different stop, the notes of the first stop having the same basic frequency as those of the said other stop or stops.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Particular preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates a second embodiment providing additional transducer channel utilization as compared to the first embodiment; and

FIG. 3 illustrates a third embodiment.

Similar parts are given the same reference number in all the FIGS. of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the first embodiment illustrated by FIG. 1 a keying scale 10 provides the usual key switches for six octaves, each of twelve fundamental notes which are half tones apart. Electric power is fed to the switches from a terminal 11. Each of the key switches corresponding to the set of octavely related notes of one stop, for example the A notes, is connected through a respective attack time circuit 12 to a respective tone filter 13. A master tone generator 14 for the A notes of the respective stop feeds a succession of subsidiary tone generators 15 to generate the electric signals representative of the said set of octavely related A notes, the generators being supplied with electric power from a terminal 16. The outputs of all of the tone generators 15 are fed together to a single transducer amplifier 17, which in turn drives a loudspeaker 18 for generation of the keyed note or notes as audible sounds.

Another master tone generator 19 feeds a succession of subsidiary tone generators 20 to generate electric signals representative of another 'set of six octavely related notes of the same stop, for example the G notes, these signals being fed to respective tone filters 21. Each switch of the corresponding set of six key switches is connected via a respective attack time circuit 22 to the respective tone filter 21, and the outputs of all of the filters 21 are fed together to the respective single transducer power amplifier 23, and thence to the respective loudspeaker 24. Ten more assemblies, each assembly comprising a tone generator, an attack time circuit, a tone filter, a power amplifier and a loudspeaker, will be required for each of the remaining ten sets of octavely related notes on the keyboard for that particular stop. Similarly, each additional stop of the complete organ will require another twelve of the said assemblies.

Since each transducer channel of amplifier and loudspeaker handles only one note and the harmonics thereof, the intermodulate distortion is reduced virtually to zero. Tests made between an electronic organ in accordance with the invention and an electrically switched, windpipe organ of comparable quality, the two organs being playable alternatively from the same keyboard, and the loudspeakers of the electronic organ being distributed generally in the neighborhood of the wind organ pipes, show that organists of long experience find it difficult, if not impossible, to tell which organ is actually coupled to the keyboard and is being played.

In a second preferred embodiment illustrated by FIG. 2 the number of transducer channels required for a full organ is reduced by a factor of two, and the utilization of each channel is increased by a corresponding factor of two, by arranging that each channel is fed with one set of octavely related notes of one stop and a second set of octavely related notes of another stop, the notes of the second set differing by a half tone from the corresponding notes of the first set. Such an arrangement may result in some sacrifice in tone, but the occasions on which two immediately adjacent notes are used together are infrequent. The loss can be further minimized by careful choice of the stops joined in this manner, to ensure that there is a minimum possibility that the two join'ed stops will be used together. v

For convenience in illustration the-two stops are indicated in FIG. 2 as being, lzeyed from separate respective keying scales a and 10b, although usually they will of course by keyed to the same keyboard. Each note of each stop has its own attack time circuit 12 or 22, its own tone filter 13 or 21 and its own generator 15 or 20. On the keyboard 10a the key switches corresponding to the set of notes A of, for example, a diapason stop are connected to the respective circuits 12, while on the keyboard 10b the key switches corresponding to the set of notes A0, these notes being at a half tone interval from A, and'for example of a flute stop, are connected to the respective circuits 22. The outputs of the tone filters 13 and 21 of the two sets of half tone spaced, octavely related notes of two separate stops are fed to the same transducer power amplifier 17 and thence to the loudspeaker 18.

As described above, the notes that are fed together via the tone filters 13 to the amplifier 17 and thence to the loudspeaker 18 are octavely related, and are therefore spacedapart an interval which can be stated more generally as being l2+n half tones, where n equals the whole positive integer zero.

In a third embodiment illustrated by FIG. 3 the interval also is l2+n, but It is now any positive whole integer other than zero, usually in the range I to 43 inclusive, and in this particular embodiment n equals 1, so that the interval is 13 half tones. As with the preceding embodiments the switches of the keying scale 10 are fed with electric power from the terminal 11. The tone generators illustrated are no longer necessarily octavely or harmonically related and cannot therefore be coupled as illustrated in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2. Two of the tone generators are driven respectively by the master generators l4 and 19, but the master generators for the other tone generators are not illustrated, and these other generators are given the references 25 to 34 inclusive.'All of the generators are supplied with electric power from the terminal 16. The two tone filters 13 and 21 corresponding to the generators 15 and are-illustrated, and the other tone filters may properly be given the same references; similarly the two attack time circuits 12 and 22 are illustrated and the other such circuits are given the same references.

In this particular embodiment the attack time circuits 12 may be connected to the keys corresponding, for example, to the notes A; A0; B; C; CO and D in successive octaves, while the circuits 22 are connected to the keys corresponding to the notes D; D0; E; F; F0 and G in successive octaves.

It will be seen that a minimum of l2+n channel means (in this embodiment thirteen also) is required to accommodate the full keying scale for each stop and that some of the higher channels will have less notes than the lower channels to avoid tend over 109 notes (or nine octaves) so that a separate channel is provided for each note of each stop. A practical maximum is where n equals 43, corresponding to an interval of 55 half tones and 54 channels per generator set. Although in this embodiment only two stops are illustrated as feeding signals for their corresponding sets of notes to a single amplifier channel means, more than two stops can be coupled in this manner; it is preferred that the coupled stops be ones which are not commonly employed together, since the effect is that the employed with the embodiments of FIG. 3 is thatdifferent stops having the same basic note frequency can have therr corresponding notes fed to the same channel. As before, a practical limit to such additional utilization is based on the less desirable composite effect thatis obtained when difi'eren t speaking stops are fed from the same generator.

, I claim:

1. In an electronic organ comprising a plurality of stops, each stop comprising means for generating electric signals representing notes which have fundamentals that are half tones apart and extend over a plurality of octaves, a plurality of separate transducing channel means each having a corresponding respective separate loudspeaker connected thereto, and means feeding the electric signals for each set of associated notes of each stop together to a respective channel means and thence to the respective loudspeaker for generation of the keyed note or notes as audible sounds, the notes of each set being spaced l2+n half tones from one another where n is any positive whole integer including zero. a

2. An electronic organ as claimed in claim 1, wherein n is an integer in the range from O to 43 inclusive.

3. An electronic organ as claimed in claim 1, wherein n is the integer 0 and the notes of each set are octavely related to one another.

4. An electronic organ as claimed in claim 3, wherein the said feeding means feed to each channel means electric signals for a first set of notes of one stop and a second set of notes, of another stop, the notes of the first set being spaced a half tone interval from the notes of the second set.

5. An electronic organ as claimed in claim 1, wherein n is an integer in the range I to 43 inclusive.

6. An electronic organ as claimed in claim 5, wherein the said feeding means feed to each channel means electric signals for a first set-of notes of one stop together with at least one other set of notes, each other set being obtained from a different stop, the notes of the first stop having the same basic frequency as those of the said other stop or stops. 

1. In an electronic organ comprising a plurality of stops, each stop comprising means for generating electric signals representing notes which have fundamentals that are half tones apart and extend over a plurality of octaves, a plurality of separate transducing channel means each having a corresponding respective separate loudspeaker connected thereto, and means feeding the electric signals for each set of associated notes of each stop together to a respective channel means and thence to the respective loudspeaker for generation of the keyed note or notes as audible sounds, the notes of each set being spaced 12+ n half tones from one another where n is any positive whole integer including zero.
 2. An electronic organ as claimed in claim 1, wherein n is an integer in the range from 0 to 43 inclusive.
 3. An electronic organ as claimed in claim 1, wherein n is the integer 0 and the notes of each set are octavely related to one another.
 4. An electronic organ as claimed in claim 3, wherein the said feeding means feed to each channel means electric signals for a first set of notes of one stop and a second set of notes, of another stop, the notes of the first set being spaced a half tone interval from the notes of the second set.
 5. An electronic organ as claimed in claim 1, wherein n is an integer in the range 1 to 43 inclusive.
 6. An electronic organ as claimed in claim 5, wherein the said feeding means feed to each channel means electric signals for a first set of notes of one stop together with at least one other set of notes, each other set being obtained from a different stop, the notes of the first stop having the same basic frequency as those of the said other stop or stops. 